Yeah sadly all of my meat is frozen rats since it's a little hard to keep bait unthawed when it's always below freezing outside. We don't have many trees here but the guy I talked to said he used cattail clumps. I thought I would make it one step easier and use a wooden stake so I don't have to mess with wire as much.

Nothing in the traps today, put out one more box in a culvert under 3 feet of snow. Then I proceeded to bust through a bunch of drifts on a random road since I didn't want to get stuck going backward or attempt to turn around and get stuck in the ditch. So I continued down the road and saw a big drift that had a muffler laying about 2 feet away from it, got through that one fine though. Saw a 4 way up ahead that was in the middle of nowhere and I planned to turn around there I kid you not, I got stuck 10 feet from it after my passenger side front wheel slid into the ditch. I dug and dug and dug, tried 4 low and 4 high, tried jamming 2x4s under the tire, and finally, I gave up and called my dad. Of course, I was in the middle of nowhere but luckily for once I had cell service, I couldn't really figure out how to explain how I got there to my dad so I started heading towards the nearest most populated road and I saw him coming down said road. I asked if that was him and he turned down the exact same road that I was walking on by chance, sadly there was a drift where he couldn't get through otherwise it would have been so easy. I did guide him back to the road I took with my truck and we went through so many drifts, I didn't even realize it until then. We got to my truck and he got turned around and yanked me out and then I did a 15 point turn to get spun around to get back through the drifts we came through. Then as soon as he went into the drift where the muffler was (the drift was quite tall), he got stuck so I had to yank him out but luckily after that, it was easygoing. So yeah caught nothing but ended up getting stuck for an hour. It wasn't a bad day though, stuff happens and when it does, you just fix it and go on with your day.

Nothing in the traps today, pulled the 5 I had set out and moved 2 of them back north of town. Going to get out tomorrow and set out some more, hard to find tracks since the snow is really crusted over and sometimes I can even walk on it without busting through. Didn't get stuck today though.

Nothing in traps today, relured the first box of the day since it had been a minute since it had fresh lure. Ordered Lenon's weasel super all call a couple of nights ago should be here in 5 or 6 days. Set out a weasel box and mink box near a bunch of rabbits tracks and what I thought to be a mink track since it was a clear as day paw pad. Here's how I hope it goes down if I get activity, I hope the weasel gets caught in the weasel box and doesn't mess with the mink box. Then I hope a mink comes along and goes in the mink box, but you never know how it might turn out.

If your mink boxes are big enough, you can always add a snap type rat trap inside doubling your chances of catching both at one set.

They're newspaper mail tubes so I suppose it could work, just wonder if the mink would set it off after it got snapped since the snap type are touchy.

I set up some squirrel traps near the house yesterday since they have been running around with this warmer weather. Baited with corn on the triggers, I just used a conibear mount nailed to the tree. I got home today after school and I saw a squirrel by the tree where my trap was so I left it and decided I would check it in a bit. I go up there with my dog after getting chores done and I can't find the trap anywhere. The wire that was wrapped around the tree a couple of times is gone everything. So I look for 5 minutes and I hear this faint jingle and then snow crunching. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a red flash, and then I turn and see the squirrel. So I call the dog onto it so that way it can't get away. The dog goes onto it and after about 30 seconds I call it off so I can assess the situation apparently the squirrel decided to get its foot caught in the conibear somehow. So I grab the wire which was about 2 feet and wrap it around a tree. I grab my trusty axe handle from the truck and got it dispatched. So I decided that I should skin it and see how difficult it is. So I get the wood stove started and started skinning. I got the tail and everything but once I got down to the front legs, it was a mess, the shoulders popped out. So I finish up the fur and I only made one eye hole a little large, perfect otherwise though. I end up using my thumb and fingers and eventually get both front legs done. I figured I could flesh it now since there was quite a bit of meat still stuck on it. Well, it didn't fit on my muskrat beam so I pull out one of my mink stretchers and my fleshing tool. And let me tell you, that meat was not wanting to let go. So I get the good idea to use my scalpel blade knife to trim it off, I was doing good and had only put a few holes in it which I could pin up and no one would be the wiser. I start another strip and instantly it get a big hole in it, so I try to save it but in the end, it ended up not being able to be saved so I turned it inside out and threw it in my carcass barrel where it'll freeze. I'll bring it along tomorrow and cut it into strips for visual and put it in my weasel and mink boxes. So yeah, learned something today, squirrels are hard to flesh, don't use a knife to flesh, and squirrel trapping is pretty fun.

Yup, pesky things keep getting into my neighbors corn bins and make a mess of everything. I put out a few mink boxes and pick up a few now and then. Yesterday I picked up a black (grey)one and a red squirrel. Neighbor was happy!

Very nice! I usually leave them alone but it's nice to have some fresh bait for the weasel and mink boxes.

Well, I don't even know how to explain today. I got out of school and checked the squirrel traps, but nothing in those. Headed out to the trapline after stopping and talking to a buddy for a bit. I got to the first weasel box and I hop out of the truck instantly I see weasel droppings at the front hole. So I think awesome, I have one. So I open it and there's this pair of black eyes staring at me and then I hear this screech. So I drop the lid closed. I opened it again to assess the situation more and yep, I had one that got caught by its leg. So I walk up to the truck and grab a rat trap on a stake and my axe handle. I climb back down into the ditch and swing the lid entirely open while this thing is screeching at me. I set the rat trap and first try got him right on the top of the head. So that was done, I reset the trap and covered the box back up with snow, didn't re lure since I figured the weasel being in there would bring more in. So I put him in the truck in a small tote so he didn't get all dirty and I drive to the next spot. and the mink box and weasel box were a bust so I head to the box about 150-200 yards away. And I got another weasel! This one was dead luckily, he was frozen in though so I just put a rat trap in there. Relured the set since he didn't make much of a disturbance. Went up the road and saw a brush pile next to a slough so I set up another box there and turned around to head home. I headed home and It ended up that my Lenon's lure came a few days early so that's nice. I also decided that I would put up a weasel today, so I got all set up and it went fine and dandy except for when I didn't free the tail up enough with the knife and it popped off. I'll have to remember that for the next one. I also harvested the skull, glands, and pecker out of it since I figured I might as well since I already had it skinned out. So yeah I learned a few things today and now I'm up to 3 weasels for the season and I still have about 3 weeks left to go. So yeah, pretty good day today, going to have some Youtube shorts to post here in a second.


[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LDuJwdyWASE[/video]


[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sTcqcagkthM[/video]

I have seen where maybe the weasel is worth more when it is frozen whole. Just a thought.

Talked to a fur buyer this past weekend and asked about weasel. Told me $3 put up. Skull and glands might get me another $1. Or I can get up to $20 for a whole frozen on the taxi market.

Don't plan on selling any this year, plan to tan them all.

Yeah, maybe next year. I'd prefer to have these hung up since they have taken so much work to get.

Checked traps yesterday since I had no homework and that was the only way to not sleep after school. Had nothing in the traps. Will relure them tomorrow with Lenon's lure, hoping this chunk of ground will produce a couple more weasels before I move to a different spot.

Just caught up on reading your posts.
Congratulations on the two weasel day!
Keep working at it like you are, experience is the best teacher.
Just a little advice- watched your you tube shorts and saw you had the bottom lip pinned up on your weasel. Just cut that off all critters it has no value and can easily taint on some critters. If you need a pin put one threw the nose on top of you drying board.
Stay at it young man. I'm enjoying you thread. Good luck the last couple weeks

Thank you, it was a surprise for sure to have two weasels.
I just left it on since I figured I was getting it tanned anyways and it would look nicer.
I'm hoping to catch a couple more before the end of the season. Then it's on to spring muskrats and beaver then raccoons for the bounty until I catch 59.

Nothing in the traps today sadly. I did re lure all of the boxes with Lenon's weasel lure. Set out one more box by a small patch of willows type trees with a good 5 foot wide chunk of slough grass in front of them. Also a big slough and stock dam behind the area too. Seems like the perfect place for a weasel. Lots of rabbit tracks around. Baited it with a hind quarter of a rabbit.

Went ice fishing last night up north of my line so I left my trapping gear in my truck and checked the line on the way back into town. Nothing in the traps, I don't know if it's because nothing is moving or if the rat traps are making them scared. Dad did see some coons out tonight though so critters are moving around. The plan is to go set up some 330s under the ice with bait sticks tomorrow in a spot where the beavers were chomping on trees earlier this year. The only problem is that there's no lodge or feed bed, I suspect that they may have moved into the lake across the road before freeze up. Another suspicion is that they are living in bank dens in the pond dam. Looks like I'll just have to wait and see tomorrow.

If they are in a bank den, be careful b/c the ice will be thinner at their entrace.
If there isn't snow on the ice, look for a bubble run and you'll see where they're coming out of the bank.
Be safe handling 330s.